


Practial Magic - A Reylo Fic

by Spiegatrix_Lestrange



Category: Reylo - Fandom, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Adorkable Sex, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Armitage Hux Being An Asshole, Armitage Hux is a Jerk, BAMF Rey, Be Careful What You Wish For, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Ben and Rey being dorks, Ben needed a sister for this story so I guess we have Kaydel Skywalker-Solo now, Cunnilingus, Curses, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, I swear, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Light Angst, Love Potion/Spell, Love at First Sight, Luke and Leia are sassy AF, Magic aways finds a way and sex is the way, Magic finds a way, Magic is Real, Single Dad Ben, Skywalkers are Witches Y'all, SoftBoi Ben Solo, Vaginal Sex, When you just can't keep it in your pants, Widower Ben Solo, Witch Curses, Yup it's because the actress is actually Carrie Fisher's daughter, but hey this is going to be fluffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-05 03:35:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16802845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spiegatrix_Lestrange/pseuds/Spiegatrix_Lestrange
Summary: One of those nights, under the pale full moon, in the greenhouse, Ben made his first spell on his own.He could still remember the precise words, carefully written on virgin paper purified with sage and blessed with jasmine.“She will hear my call from miles away,She will whistle my favorite song,She has known pain, yet there’s no trace of it when she smiles,She can fix a car while blindfolded,She can flip pancakes in the air,and her favorite shape will be a star.Her eyes are both green and brown.”“What’s that?” Kydel had asked back then, her curious eyes looking at him.“It’s a spell,” he had explained, carefully picking from a few vases the remaining ingredients he needed, “it’s called amas veritas.”“A love spell?” his sister asked enthusiastically.“Quite the opposite,” he clarified, “The girl I dream of doesn’t exist, and if she doesn’t exist, my heart will never be broken.”Inspired by the movie Practical Magic (1988)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Practical Magic is a movie that holds a very special place in my heart. It has been my Halloween movie of choice in the last fourteen years, making me all warm and fuzzy every time like the first one, so I wanted to share this Reylo version with you. 
> 
> My gratitude goes to http://fettuccine-alfreylo.tumblr.com/ for helping me with this project by being an attentive, kind, and very special beta.  
> She's incredibly talented, don't forget to take a look at her Tumblr and her profile her on Ao3 <3

_ “For more than two hundred years we Skywalkers have been blamed for everything gone wrong in this town.” _

_ “Is that why people hate us so much, Uncle Luke?” _

_ “They don’t hate us, sweetheart, we make them…a little nervous.” _ __  
_  
_ __ “Let’s face it, Leia, we Skywalkers have always created a stir. It all began with your ancestor Anakin. He was a warlock, the first in our family. And you, my darlings, are the most recent in a long and distinguished line.”

_ “Is that why they wanted to hang him? Because he was a warlock?” _

_ “Well, the fact that our ancestor Anakin was a bit of a troublemaker didn’t help, neither did the fact that a lot of jealous husbands were part of the hanging committee, but now, I don’t think it was either of those reasons. They feared him because he had a gift, a power that has been passed onto you, children. He had the gift of magic. And it was that very gift that saved his life. _

_ “He was banished to this very island, with his two new-born children, his bride took away from him. He waited for her to join them, but she never came, no one came. _ __  
_  
_ __ In a moment of despair, he cast a spell upon himself that he would never feel again the agony of love, but as his bitterness grew his spell turned into a curse, a curse on any person who dares to love a Skywalker. ”

  
  


Ben knew far too well the old refrain about his family curse. Even if, at least by name, he was a Solo, he and his sister Kaydel were Skywalkers through and through, like their mother Leia and his uncle Luke before them.

Being a Skywalker meant a few quite remarkable things. 

First of all, the whole town of Chandrilla hated them, or at least, as his mother used to put it, people were generally quite uncomfortable around them. 

Even if he had grown up into a tall, imposing man, he could still remember the rocks thrown at him and his twin sister when they were still kids, usually harassed by the local mob of children around their age.

Second of all, the curse was real. His father, Han, had died when he and his sister were twelve.    
  
His mother had heard the sound of the scarab, the bug of death among witches, the whole day before it happened. If it hadn’t been for Luke taking them in to the ancestral house, his mom would have probably died of a broken heart after losing her husband.

Years later, he and Kaydel have grown accustomed to the suspicious amount of men and women coming in the dead of night to their home. 

Even if those people despised them in the daylight, many of them sought supernatural help from Luke and Leia, asking for spells and potions, searching for solutions for their desperate love life.

One of those nights, under the pale full moon, in the greenhouse, Ben made his first spell on his own.

He could still remember the precise words, carefully written on virgin paper purified with sage and blessed with jasmine.

_ “She will hear my call from miles away, _

_ She will whistle my favorite song, _

_ She has known pain, yet there’s no trace of it when she smiles, _

_ She can fix a car while blindfolded, _

_ She can flip pancakes in the air, _

_ and her favorite shape will be a star. _

_ Her eyes are both green and brown.” _ __  
  


“What’s that?” Kydel had asked back then, her curious eyes looking at him.

“It’s a spell,” he had explained, carefully picking from a few vases the remaining ingredients he needed, “it’s called  _ amas veritas. _ ”

“A love spell?” his sister asked enthusiastically.

“Quite the opposite,” he clarified, “The girl I dream of doesn’t exist, and if she doesn’t exist, my heart will never be broken.”

Kaydel had given him a quite disappointed look.

“Too bad, I can’t wait to fall in love,” she had confessed with a dreamy smile.

Too bad his spell hasn’t saved him in the end. 

He and Kaydel have grown attached at the hip, close as every couple of Skywalker twins before them, but when the time for college came, his sister just moved out, in the quest for her personal happiness pursued through a series of not particularly deep or heartfelt relationships.

Ben remembered perfectly the night she went away with her boyfriend at the time, a huge athlete with a gentle heart but a very dumb face named Mark or something like that.

With her usual, enthusiast smile on her face, Kaydel had taken his hand, cut both their palms with a sharp knife and joined their blood in a promise.

“Of course we’ll see each other again,” She had reassured him, “we still have to grow old together in a big house full of cats, and die at the same time and the same day!”

To be fair, Kaydel kept her promise for the years to come, calling him almost every week, but even if his herbalist shop was going pretty well by now, Luke and Leia must have thought that his life was still too empty.

Months later, like summoned by a spell, Sabine entered his life and before he knew it they were in love, married, living in a big house of their own with two kids, another couple of Skywalker twins, Hanna and Bail.

For many years Ben forgot about the woman described in his  _ amas veritas _ , about witchcraft, about the family curse.

His life seemed perfect and normal, no more people throwing stones at him, no more midnight spells with his mom and Luke during solstices, no more suspicious eyes on him and his family from nosey fellow citizens.

Until the day came in which he heard the sound of the scarab.

He searched the whole house for that damn bug, but before he could find it the sun had set and a phone call came from the farmer’s market where Sabine worked, warning him about a terrible accident.    
  
The Skywalker curse had struck again and his perfect life was gone forever.

He moved back into the ancestral house of the Skywalkers, Leia and Luke welcoming him, Hanna, and Bale with a mandatory chocolate cake just like when he was a kid.

If things had been less complicated, he would have probably blamed his mother and his uncle for his broken heart, for that spell that had brought Sabine in his life, but at that point, the only thing he could do was move on, for Bale and Hanna.

As they built their own routine in the new house, some of the old habits were back among the inhabitants of Chandrilla. After all, when a centuries-long curse makes another victim, people tend to gossip. The general attitude of Luke and Leia walking around dressed like every day was Halloween and talking to animals wasn’t helping.

Every time he tried to reprimand his family about it though, he always got from his uncle slight variations of the same answer:   
  


“Kid, when are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage!”

Ben didn’t know exactly how he did it, but the days became months and the months years, and as his heart grew numb he held on, living his life as a single parent, taking care of the family herbal shop, and nothing much else, until one night an ominous phone call woke him.

He had been uncomfortable all day, a vague feeling of worry and uneasiness shaking his bones, his mind ending up over and over on the thought of Kaydel.

The unpleasant sensation was confirmed when he heard the strained voice of his sister on the other side of the line.

“Hey Benny,” she greeted him weakly.

“Kay, what’s wrong?” he grumbled in apprehension, still half asleep but with his heart in his throat.

“Do you remember Armitage?”   
  


Ben’s brow furrowed.

“That boyfriend of yours you told me about?” 

“Yeah. We’re having… issues. I-I’m scared. Can you pick me up?”   
  


“I’m on my way.”   
  
  


***   
  
  
“I was right, there’s nothing you can do about it.” 

Finn Storm gave his colleague an amused look, handing her a cup of steaming coffee, saying nothing.

“What?” The woman replied in a smug smile. “I told them it was the carburetor, and it actually was the carburetor.”   
  


“Sure, Rey,” The dark-skinned man pointed out, barely holding back a laugh, “but there was no need to fix that car while blindfolded. You’re nothing but a show-off.”   
  


Detective Rey Niima shrugged her shoulders, taking a sip of her coffee like it was the sweetest thing on earth.

“I just wanted to put Detective Ramirez in his place.”

  
  
“You surely did,” Finn conceded in a snort as they entered the police station.

They were on their way to their office when agent Miles approached, handing Rey a folder.

“Detective Niima, we might have news about Mr. Hux.”

The woman grabbed the file in an instant, thanking the other officer with a nod.

“Anything interesting?” Finn asked.

“We might have the name of his current girlfriend,” Rey explained, her eyes roaming eagerly through the printed pages, “This might actually be our best track in months.”   


“What’s her name?”   


  
“Skywalker-Solo. Kaydel Skywalker-Solo.”

  
  
  
  



	2. Dark, Wrong and Supernatural

Ben hit the stairs as fast as he could, still fighting to put on his shirt as he descended in the kitchen.

Leia was sitting at the table waiting for him, her long dark hair fashioned in her loose night braid, her cup of elder tree bark and peppermint infusion filling the room with the bittersweet notes of its scent.

“It’s Kaydel,” She just said, her tone careful. It wasn’t a question, but Ben didn’t suppose it would have been. 

He just nodded, putting on his jacket and taking the car keys from their rightful spot on a shelf.

“Be careful,” his mother warned him, the spoon in his cup of infusion stirring nervously on its own, “There’s blood on the moon tonight.”

“I know,” the man nodded, “I need you to take care of the kids tonight.”

“No problem, we’re about to leave in four hours anyway. It’s Solstice tomorrow, we might bring the kids with us. They would have a lot of fun.”

“Can’t you just stay home?” Ben asked nervously.

“Nonsense,” Leia dismissed him, shaking her head, “We’re head of the committee, we have awards to give this year.”   
  
“Very well,” her son conceded with a deep huff, “But no naked dancing in the moonlight.”

Leia just rolled her eyes.

“Of course, as you remember, nakedness is not mandatory.”

  
  


***

  
  


Ben reached the motel that Kaydel had told him about after a two-hour long drive, a red moon watching him like a blatant warning.

After a while, he hadn’t even bothered to check the navigator anymore as he could sense through the air the correct direction toward his sister. 

After all, they’d always been like this, especially in times of need. He didn’t know if it was a twin thing, or more simply a Skywalker thing, but he recalled all the times he had felt Kaydel’s pain or fear. It felt like a primal instinct, and it had never felt so urgent, so real, so strong as it did now. 

Something was wrong, really wrong.

The parking lot was almost empty when his car finally stopped, and in seconds, not even knowing the room number, he was climbing the stairs to the second floor, his dark eyes set on the door he needed.

Kaydel was sitting on the floor, hugging her bag, her long, wavy golden hair partially covering her face. 

As she looked up to him her gaze warmed up instantly, but not even the grateful smile which had appeared on her face could conceal the quite ominous bruise under her left eye. 

Ben’s throat tightened in an instant, his jaw clenching as he reached for her, carefully kneeling beside her.

“I’m going to kill this guy,” he grumbled, cradling the much smaller frame of his sister in his arms, helping her up.

“It’s not worth it,” she just admitted, her voice weak, “Let’s just go home.”

As they hit the stairs again, hand in hand like when they were children, Kaydel kept looking around, worry evident in every small gesture.

“He’s a sociopath,” she explained, no further preambles needed, “He was hungry, yesterday. We went to the diner and he ordered a donut with jelly cream. The waitress looked confused and I just said - _Armie, jelly is not a cream_ -, the waitress laughed, so I ended up laughing too, and he just punched me. He punched me for a damn donut.”

“And you’re sure you don’t want me to beat the shit out of him?” Ben just hissed as they moved toward the car.

“No, no. I just want to be sure I’ll never see him again,” In the middle of the parking lot Kaydel stopped in her tracks all of a sudden, scared eyes looking up at the sky while her hand searched instantly for something on her chest, “There’s blood on the moon,” she mumbled, panicked, looking at the red shade of light in the night sky, “I need my quartz tiger’s eye.”

“There’s really no time for this, Kay,” Ben urged her, but in a second she was disentangling her hand from his, running toward an old Chevrolet that was probably the bastard’s car.

“It must be here somewhere!” the woman muttered urgently, opening the passenger door with Ben right behind her.

Before he could notice, a hand grabbed Kaydel by the hair, dragging her into the back seat of the now-open car as she let out a loud, panicked squeal. 

Even if his first instinct had been to jump into the car and beat the shit out of whoever was hurting his sister, Ben stopped himself, his heart in his throat, as soon as he realized that he was being held at gunpoint. 

In the backseat of the Chevrolet sat a pale man with sharp cheekbones, evident circles under his eyes and his ginger hair giving him an unfazed look One of his arms was wrapped around Kaydel’s trembling figure while he held a bottle of tequila, his other hand pointing the gun at Ben. 

“You must be Kay’s brother,” he pointed out almost casually, as if the whole situation was something he was used to, something totally normal, “Do you mind driving?”

  
  


***   
  
  
After one hour of constant driving, Ben still didn’t know where Hux was leading them.

His hands were clenched around the steering wheel as if his life depended on it, his shoulders squared. All he could think about was Bail and Hanna, back home, safe in their beds, Luke and Leia taking care of them.

A part of him knew, just knew, he would never see his children again. A part of him just kept telling him that this was it, he and Kaydel would die tonight, but there was no time for thoughts like that, there was no time for panic.

After the first ten minutes, one thing was clear, Hux really loved tequila.

He kept drinking from the bottle, one swig after another, his arm still around Kaydel’s neck.

The most disturbing thing was probably how at ease Hux actually looked in this situation. 

He had wanted the radio on, humming contently as ‘Always on my Mind’ by Elvis started playing.

At some point the red-haired man had actually tried to start smalltalk, and a part of Ben would have been actually tempted to laugh hysterically if it wasn’t for the gun pointed alternatively at him and his sister.

“So, Benny, my pal. Do you like western novels?” Hux had asked totally out of nowhere.    
  
Ben searched for Kaydel’s stare in the rearview mirror, gaining only a mute, desperate plea to play along in return.

“Not particularly,” he admitted, trying to keep his voice calm, “I’m more of a sci-fi reader.”   
  
“That’s a shame,” Armitage shrugged, “All those stories about cowboys and cattle riders can really teach a man how to behave.”   
  


Even if a part of Ben just wanted to scream at him to shut up he just swallowed, his jaw clenching.

“Really?” he muttered, “How so?”

“Those men really knew how the world works. You have to man up, to fight for what’s yours.” It took Ben a second to realize that Hux had dropped the tequila bottle, and was now playing casually with a heavy, old-fashioned lighter. “If someone tried to steal a cow that had your brand on it, you would just hang them from a tree, and that was it. No false morality, no preposterous bullshit to justify weakness. The stronger just takes it all.”

In that second something in Ben’s brain just clicked. His dark eyes ended up on Hux’s shaky hand lighting up the lighter, bringing the flame close to a quite ugly, flashy metal ring he was wearing.    
  
Kaydel, who had been as silent as possible until now, just sobbed in pure fear.

That motherfucker wanted to brand her, like a damn animal. 

The sudden rush of panic almost made him lose control of the car, the steering wheel rotating violently under his fingers as his feet ended up on the brake in a loud screeching noise.

As soon as he gained control of the car once again Ben was breathing heavily, wide eyes on the desert road in front of him.

Hux, that sick fuck, was laughing jovially in the back seat.

“You really need to relax, my friend,”he muttered, any purpose regarding ring or lighter apparently forgotten for now. He handed Ben the tequila bottle across the seat, “Here, take a swig.”

Ben’s breathing stopped for a second, his eyes searching for Kaydel’s in the mirror once again. 

His sister’s stare was focused on something in the front seat, just beside him. Her own bag.

He felt something brushing softly against the back of his head. A thought, a thought that wasn’t his. A thought from Kaydel.

_ There’s some Nightshade in my bag. _

This was probably their only chance. 

He took the bottle firmly, taking a long sip as Kaydel tried her best to distract the other man, murmuring soothing nonsense in his ear.

In a second his hand was carefully searching for a vial in his sister’s bag. 

God, he had never been so happy about putting his hands in his sister’s messy things in his life. 

As Ben grabbed the small glass container, he allowed himself to breathe again, and a moment later all of the powder contained in the small object ended up in the tequila bottle, unseen by the far-too-drunk man behind him.

  
  


***   
  
It took at least another hour for Hux to drink enough tequila to blackout.

When they finally felt safe enough to stop the car, Ben’s mind was racing.

They could just leave him there, in the middle of nowhere and never look back. Great, that sounded like a decent plan.    
  
He was about to get down from the car and throw that bastard out when Kaydel’s voice stopped him.

“Benny?”   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“He’s not breathing.”   
  
Ben froze.

“What?!”   
  
“He’s not breathing!” Kaydel squealed, louder this time, panic evident in her voice. “We killed him!”

Fuck, oh, fuck.

Ben ran his hands through his hair.

“Are you sure?”   
  
“He has no pulse either,” his sister hiccupped, “How much nightshade did you put in there?”

“All of it.”   
  
“All of it?!” the woman was almost screaming, “Are you crazy?!”   
  
“It’s not like I had a measuring cup!”

Kaydel pinched the bridge of her nose in a long, shaky breath.

“It’s alright,” she muttered hesitantly, “I-it was self-defense. The police will understand…”   
  
“Since when is poisoning self-defense?!” Ben almost shouted at the top of his lungs, “I have kids, Kay! I cannot go to jail! They’re never going to let me see my kids again!”

“I-I’m sorry…” she barely muttered, “Let me just figure out-”   
  
“There’s nothing we can do, Kay! He’s dead! We’re screwed, and I’m going to jail because you have horrible taste in men!”   
  
“Hey!” she smacked him on the shoulder, her tone growing defensive, “It’s not like I’ve asked for him to treat me like this! Shut the hell up!”

Ben was on the edge of hyperventilating, but he forced himself to slow down his breathing.

“I know,” he muttered after a long moment, his eyes closed, “I’m sorry. But this doesn’t change the fact that he’s dead, we’re screwed and there’s nothing we can do about it.”   
  
The car remained silent for a long moment, and when Kaydel spoke again, she was giving her brother a meaningful look.

“Maybe there’s something we can do.”   
  


Ben’s head turned toward his sister fast enough to look like he just got hit in the face.

“You’re kidding, right?!”   
  
“You know it’s possible. It’s in the book. I know you asked Mom and Luke about it when…” Kaydel hesitated, working her jaw, “When it happened to Sabine.”   
  
Ben felt his heart clench painfully in his chest, his lip turning into a thin line.

“No matter what that damn book said, Kay, you can’t resurrect people from the dead. Mom and Luke told me. No matter how hard you might want it, they will not be themselves. Something dark, wrong, and supernatural will come back in their place.”   
  
“Well, in case you didn’t notice, Hux is already dark, wrong and supernatural,” Kaydel pointed out quite evidently, exasperation in her voice, “We bring him back and then we just drop him somewhere, as far away from our lives as possible.”   
  
Ben exhaled slowly, barely believing his own words when he finally spoke again.

“Fine.”   
  
  
***   
  
The way home had been long, silent and tense. 

As they finally stopped in the driveway, Skywalker’s ancestral house was still dark, no lights on, and Luke’s and Leia’s car was missing. Luckily for them, the others had already left for the Solstice celebration, apparently.

As Ben lifted Hux’s body onto his shoulder, it almost surprised him how actually skinny and lean the figure of the recently deceased man was, making him realize that maybe, if it wasn’t for the gun, he would have been able to take care of the man in a couple of punches even if it wasn’t exactly a fighter.

They entered the kitchen and in a second Kaydel was already heading to the bookshelf, grabbing the family Grimoire in her nervous hands. 

Even if they hadn’t practiced magic together in years, they worked like a well-oiled engine.    
  
In minutes Hux’s body was properly displayed on the kitchen table, hands down by his sides, shirt open and a five-pointed star carefully painted on his pale chest.

Ben was taking care of the herbs, gently blowing just the smallest amount of air under the cauldron to make the flame grow weakly.

“It says that we need to breathe in and out constantly through our mouths,” Kaydel was reading eagerly, her eyes glued on the book, “breathe in the direction of his face. We light the black candle first, then the white one thirty seconds later. We touch the smoke of the blue sage with the artemisia majoris dry branch and then we have to recite the spell _. Black as the night, erase the death from our eyes, white as the light, we ask for Hecate’s intervention. _ And then we-” the woman’s voice trailed off in disgust “-We pierce the eyes of the body with the needles. Maybe we should wait for Leia and Luke to come back.”

“We don’t have a cold storage, Kay,” Ben reprimanded her firmly, “And I don’t want the kids to see this.”

The two of them took a long moment to look at each other, just nodding when the time finally came.

The candles were lighted strictly following the book’s instruction, the dense smoke of the blue sage burning in the air.

“ _ Black as the night, erase the death from our eyes, white as the light, we ask for Hecate’s intervention,”  _ They both started chanting, their voices staying as calm and composed as possible.

_ “Black as the night, erase the death from our eyes, white as the light, we ask for Hecate’s intervention.” _

_ “Black as the night, erase the death from our eyes, white as the light, we ask for Hecate’s intervention.” _ _   
_ __   
They were about to repeat it again, the needles in their hands moving cautiously toward the man’s eyes when a clap of thunder made them jump.

In a second the whole kitchen turned dark, the lights shutting off in a loud screech, only the candles remaining lit.

Something shifted in the air, and before any of them could react or figure out what was actually happening, the once-dead figure of Hux was launching itself at Kaydel, his bony, pale hands grabbing her throat, his voice sounding sharp and unnatural screaming in her face.

“I’m going to marry you, Kay!” he kept shouting at the woman gasped for air, her hands trying desperately to push away his cold grasp, “You’re going to be my wife, and we’re-”

His ramble ended with a loud thud, his body falling limp on hers.

When Kaydel finally found the strength to look behind Hux’s shoulder, she found Ben’s imposing figure looking at her in disbelief, his broad chest heaving, and the heavy frying pan still held firmly in his nervous grasp.

Ben fell on his knees beside her, his head low as he tried to catch his breath.

As his sister finally managed to push away Hux’s body, all that came out from her mouth was a trembling whisper.   
  
“What do we do now?”

Ben took a sharp breath, his hand running helplessly through his hair. 

“He needs to disappear,” He declared with all the clarity he managed to find in his mind, “The garden will do.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, there's no sign of Rey in this chapter, but the plot needed to move a little bit further for her to join.   
> As you might have noticed I've changed the rating of the story, I decided to put a little bit more of spice in there for the next chapter ;)


	3. Magic Always Finds a Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're here, finally! :D 
> 
> The lovely http://fettuccine-alfreylo.tumblr.com/ is a lovely cupcake and an amazing beta for this, go and check her amazing stories on Ao3 and her lovely Tumblr!

When Ben finally woke up it was noon already. The house was still empty except for Kaydel sleeping in the next room.

Despite the inevitable, unsettling feeling about what had happened the night before still sinking in his chest and the dirt of the garden still staining his shirt, Ben woke up feeling weirdly energic, with a far too familiar rhythm playing again and again in his head.

By the time Kaydel got up, he had carefully cleaned the kitchen like it was any other day, with what was probably denial building and building in his mind, while he found himself humming that same song.

He had always loved Africa by Toto. It was probably his favorite song ever and somehow, it was managing to keep him grounded and calm even in his absurd situation.

He had killed a man. True, the man had tried to kill his sister and him, but nevertheless, he was responsible for that body buried in secret in their garden.

Even if Armitage Hux probably wouldn’t have been missed, that didn’t change the fact that his death was on Ben’s hands, twice.

How was it even possible? He wasn’t even capable of harming a fly, let alone a human being, and yet…

This was so fucked up.

Kaydel was saying nothing, giving him only a worried look as he washed the kitchen table with salt and vinegar for the third time.

After her third cup of coffee, she finally cleared her throat, in a weak attempt to start a conversation.

Somehow that made Ben even more nervous, and in a second he was grabbing the keys of his car.

“Where are you going?” his sister asked.

“Out,” he only replied, stiffly. Ben had never been a big fan of alcohol, but for once, he was sure as hell that he needed a beer, and he needed it out of that house.

  
  


***   
  
Chandrilla had very few bars and even fewer bars in which people didn’t look at him like he was the spawn of Satan.

After what happened to Sabine, his social interactions outside the herbal shop and the mandatory meetings with other parents at school have been basically zero. To his surprise, there was more shock than hate in the eyes of his fellow citizens as he finally entered the Hanging Garden, the local pub/diner/grocery store near the port. 

It wasn’t posh, or cool, but it had an old, barely working jukebox filled with music from the eighties, cold beer and a grumpy owner that didn’t like to indulge in conversation - basically everything Ben needed right now.

He took a stool at the far end of the counter, the few customers barely giving him a second look as he took a sip of his beer. 

At some point some merciful soul must have unconsciously perceived his need for distraction because his favorite song was playing from the old jukebox, the soft notes of Africa by Toto filling the air, reminding him of simpler, more serene times.

Ben allowed himself a deep, calming breath, his eyes closing for just a couple of seconds. 

He needed to get his shit together. The kids needed him, Kaydel needed him, and he couldn’t allow himself to just give up. 

The scenes from the night before kept playing again and again in his head, and he tried to push them away with another swig of beer. His uneasiness must have been quite blatant on his face though because a sudden, stranger female voice was talking to him now.

“Rough day, huh?” 

Ben slightly turned his head to the side, where a woman had apparently decided to sit on the stool next to him.

She was offering him a sympathetic smile that looked weirdly sincere and heartfelt for being just a random act of kindness from a stranger.    
  
She was probably in her mid-twenties, brown hair fashioned into a messy bun on top of a far too pretty head dusted with far too lovely freckles. Big, warm hazel eyes were giving him a kind look as she took a sip from her beer.

Ben swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously in his throat. He had never been exactly a natural when it came to women. After all, if you’re cursed to tragically lose the person you love, why even bother? Long story short, aside from Sabine, his interaction with girls had always been awkward, and nervous. Not that he didn’t feel loneliness, he was human after all, but to let someone get close to him was too dangerous. Even an innocent chat usually made him uncomfortable. 

The pretty woman must have noticed his hesitation and just bit her lip, looking away.

“Sorry I- I didn’t mean to bother you,” she just excused herself, shifting uneasily on her stool.

“No-no, sorry,” he muttered, a little bit in a hurry, “It’s just… It really has been a hell of a day.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” the woman replied, her smile cautiously warming up again, “And I get it, totally. It’s been a hell of a day for me too. Just arrived in town.”

“You look quite new actually.” Ben found himself frowning at his own statement. What an odd thing to say.

“Yup, brand new, right out of the package,” she teased with a little, amused snort.

“Sorry I - hum-” His gaze focused helplessly on his beer. This was ridiculous. He was a grown man, a respectable, productive member of society, and a father of two. A teenage member of the math club would have shown more confidence than him while talking to a woman. What a nerd. He took a deep breath, after all, considering the last twenty-four hours, what else could possibly go wrong? “I-I’m not that good at small talk,” he just admitted, like there was no point in denying it.

The pretty girl with the cute freckles gave him a curious, slightly amused look, before asking with the most obviously manufactured solemnity possible:   
  
“So, what is your position about third wave feminism?”

Ben’s brow furrowed in evident surprise.

“Excuse me?”   
  
“Your opinion on gun control?”   
  
“Um-”   
  


“What do you think will help the American economy right now?”

For every controversial question, she shot at him, a wider, brighter smile kept growing on her face. It was indeed a sassy, provocatory smile, but an adorable smile nevertheless.

“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?” Ben muttered incredulously. Wait, was he smiling back?

“Just a little,” she confirmed in a soft giggle, offering him her hand, “I’m Rey.”

“Ben,” he just replied, shaking her hand with his much larger one.

  
  


***   
  
“You seriously can’t compare Philip Dick and Isaac Asimov. They don’t even write the same genre.”

“Oh, yup. They do. Ethical dilemmas about A.I., dystopian futures, humanity being less human than androids. I mean-” the girl shrugged, giving him an unimpressed look, “It’s pretty obvious.”   
  
“Asimov is pure Sci-fi, and Blade Runner is probably the first Cyberpunk novel ever written,” Ben pointed out with the most convincing voice he could manage, “And the analysis of society is completely different.”

Rey just rolled her eyes at him, taking a sip of their third beer together. The way her freckled nose wrinkled in annoyance was one of the most entrancing things he had ever seen in his life.

Rey was funny. She was also quite witty, and a little bit too sassy for her own good, but he didn’t mind. Being a smart-ass looked adorable on her. 

And damn, she was pretty. Of course, he had noticed that right from the start, but after an hour of non-stop talking, he couldn’t help but notice one cute detail after another.

The dimples appearing on her cheeks as she smiled, the expressive way her eyebrows arched every time her expression changed, the way the light embraced the high line of her cheekbones.

Damn, if he had been a normal man, just a random guy in a bar with no curse on his back and no murder in his much too recent past, he would have probably asked for her number after the first three minutes of their conversation, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

The stranger thing though, was that this girl seemed to actually like him. It was hard to miss even for him, and he wasn’t exactly a genius in the women department.

She kept laughing at his awkward attempt of jokes, even if, to be fair, he had managed to warm up and speak more confidently in the last twenty minutes, or at least he hoped so.

She kept giving him warm, pleased looks that made him feel both like he was a cupcake she really wanted to eat and a cute kitten she really wanted to cuddle, and the fact that he liked her back, a lot, was making the thing even weirder.

“It’s getting late,” her voice called him back from his thoughts, “I should go, I’ve got a pretty early start tomorrow.”   
  
Ben just nodded.

“Can I walk you home?” He found himself surprised by his own words, asking himself when and where he had suddenly found the courage to ask.    
  
Her face lightened up like the cutest Christmas tree in history, her smile beaming at him, hazel eyes full of light, like no pain or misery in the world could have ever scratched her joy.

“Sure.”   
  
  
***   
  
  
Rey’s motel was only three blocks away, and Ben realized he had never walked so slowly in his life. 

At some point, like it was the most natural things on earth, he has found his hand entangled with hers, her tiny, soft thumb gently brushing his knuckles. 

It felt almost surreal, and way, way too perfect, like they had met a hundred lifetimes ago and they had just remembered about each other like it was meant to be.

The problem was that Ben had never been a fan of what was meant to be, usually because when you’re a Skywalker it meant nothing good when it came to holding hands and exchanging smiles with someone you really liked.

Even if a part of him wanted to run away as fast as he could though, his body and his soul had decided to stay, and he couldn’t really do anything about it at the moment.

“We’re here,” Rey muttered, stopping in front of the bright lights of the motel sign, her hand still in his as she turned to face him, offering him another gentle, heart-warming smile.

“We’re here,” Ben repeated, almost numbly. He wasn’t exactly ready to let go, but this was for the best. After all, saying goodbye might have been the wisest thing to do at the moment. It was not like he actually had a chance to be happy, and indulging in the mere hope of it would have been -

His quite bitter train of thoughts was interrupted abruptly by Rey’s small, warm hands cradling his face, her thumbs gently brushing his cheeks. In a moment she was dragging his head closer to hers, her breath softly caressing his mouth as Ben’s larger frame instinctively tilted forward, accommodating pliantly to her silent, gentle instructions.

If three beers didn’t make him dizzy, this did. His breath shifted, becoming vaguely irregular as his eyes kept looking at her in surprise.

“Is this okay?” she murmured against his mouth, her voice perfectly calm and soothing.

Ben’s nose brushed accidentally against her cheek as he found himself nodding a little bit too enthusiastically. In a moment it felt like something was exploding like the Big Bang itself had decided to happen a second time in a much smaller, warmer, more intimate fashion.

From the moment Rey’s lips found his, it felt like this was always supposed to happen, like everything that happened in his life had led him to this exact moment. The sensation of finally being exactly where he was supposed to be, despite not even knowing the destination of his journey until that instant, filled him with a sensation of relief so intense that he had to fight with himself to not melt into tears.

Her mouth was soft like the sweetest mid-summer peach just picked from the peach tree in his garden, the one closer to the shore. Her kiss was gentle, calm and welcoming like they had kissed a million times before and each and every one of those kisses has been somehow the first. 

If Ben had been his usual rational, pondering self he would have probably realized that something supernatural was happening. He would have probably realized that kissing someone that was basically a stranger wasn’t supposed to feel this overwhelmingly good, and emotionally intense, that something inexplicable was surely going on, but he was in no condition to care.

Instead, his hands moved to cradle her waist, pushing gently her smaller frame against his as his lips gently assaulted hers without a hint of hesitation. 

When, at some point, the kiss deepened and tongues got involved, he almost feared that his heart would jump out of his chest in excitement. So this was what happiness felt like. He had almost forgotten. 

Rey tasted like spring and warmness, like affection and beer. He fought the instinct of humming contently against her mouth, and when they finally parted, Ben was quite aware of the inevitable dorky smile that must have appeared on his face as he kept his forehead against hers.

Her hands were still cradling his face as she took a deep breath, a huge grin spreading on her face as she kept her eyes closed.

“Your cheeks are so soft,” she hummed almost casually, “They’re like cute marshmallows.”

Ben barely held back an amused snort.

“Thanks?”

Rey’s smile widened a little.

“I know. I say really dumb things, sometimes.”

“I like it,” he admitted, barely realizing his hands were still on her waist, his large thumb casually brushing her side.

The woman bit her lip, hesitating just for a second before she spoke again.

“So, I’m not exactly aware of what the procedure should be but…Would it be inappropriate of me to ask if you want to come in?”

Ben hadn’t even thought it was a possibility until that precise moment. Everything had been so overwhelming and fast he didn’t consider the implications.

“You mean-”

“Yes,” she cut him off, a little bit too urgently.

He took in a deep breath. There was no use in denying the fact that very few things in his life had ever sounded that appealing. He was totally out of his comfort zone. He had never been adventurous or confident enough to get this close to a stranger before, and yet the pull was just too strong.

“Are you sure?” he just managed to mutter, clearing his throat.

Rey said nothing, just pulling him into another kiss in the clearest answer ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Amazing Sage McMae made these lovely moodboards and I'm so grateful! 
> 
> [](https://ibb.co/WHFh5TS)
> 
> [](https://ibb.co/H2LQdFn)


	4. Plans and Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yup, the smut train has entered the station! I know it's a bit of a change compared to the original movie but I wanted to develop their relationship a bit differently and have a little bit of filthy fun in the process :D
> 
> As always, thanks to the adorable http://fettuccine-alfreylo.tumblr.com/ for the amazing contribution as a beta <3

Ben was fighting with his own body to keep his breath even and calm, but it was getting more difficult by the moment.

He had almost forgotten how intimacy was supposed to feel like, but he really hoped that muscle memory would come into help. After all, it was like riding a bicycle.  _ You can’t really forget how to ride a bicycle, right? God, _ he hoped so.    
  
He really didn’t want to disappoint the gorgeous, adorable girl that was currently straddling his lap and was now fighting with the buttons of his shirt. 

The make-out session had started right out of the door of her room and had grown in intensity pretty quickly, ending with him on the bed and her on top of him, both still mostly dressed but definitely ready to get rid of their clothes.

At least Rey seemed ready. She looked completely at ease, her soft touches confident and unhurried as she finally managed to push his shirt down his shoulders.

She gave him a brief peck before taking a moment to take a look at his now-bare torso.

Consciously, Ben knew he had nothing to worry about. He was a big man who exercised regularly, but being so exposed after so long made him swallow nervously. 

His eyes searched for her reaction, and the surprised furrow of her brow almost made him blush. Blush. Like a damn teenager. God, he was in trouble.

“I really didn’t see that coming,” Rey admitted, her eyes still taking in the pale expanse of his chest. “Would it be rude of me to say that I’d really like to lick you basically everywhere?”

Even if that was easily considered dirty talk, the woman had spoken with such openness and tranquillity that it almost sounded like the most obvious and normal thing in the world. Nevertheless, the statement went instantly to Ben’s groin, making the considerable stiffness in his pants almost painful. He just replied with a vaguely awkward strangled noise. Articulating wasn’t exactly an option at that point.

He got rid of his shirt completely, his mouth finding hers again. This was so perfect it was almost scary. Ben had never been particularly confident in intimacy. As in most things, he had learned to keep a hold on his natural intensity for the sake of the person with him, or maybe just for the sake of the opinion the person with him might have of him. Losing control could be messy, but losing control while being a warlock was probably the worst idea possible. 

But this time, this time was different. It had been so long, and Rey was so perfect and responsive, he found himself in the desperate need of letting go. 

He wasn’t the type of man too eager to take the lead, or at least he had never been until now, but his body seemed to have forgotten that. His hands tightly gripped the soft yet muscular flesh of her thighs, lifting them both from the bed enough to switch position in a swift, practical movement that ended with Rey on her back under him and Ben pinning her to the mattress with his much larger frame. 

Rey’s initial reaction was a delighted squeal of surprise, followed by a breathy giggle as her hands found his hair, running through the unbelievable softness of his raven locks.

“Damn,” she murmured, “I’ve never been flipped like a pancake before.”

Ben found himself chuckling against her neck.

“Was that okay?” he asked, leaving a soft trail of pecks down her collarbone.

“More than okay, that was hot as hell,” she hummed, her back arching beneath him, “Feel free to do it whenever you want. Consider me your personal pancake.”

“I love pancakes,” the man blurted out, his hands sneaking under her shirt.

As they both fought against her clothes, throwing the shirt above her head in less than a second, Ben asked himself if he would be able to look at pancakes without getting hard from now on, but the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra distracted him almost instantly. 

He must have gotten a little too distracted, because he realized he was staring only when Rey lifted his chin with the tip of her finger, moving his attention to her face.

When his eyes found hers again, Ben found a warm, adorable smile waiting for him.

“You know, you can touch them if you want,” she suggested, and as his big hand finally moved too gently to explore the freckled flesh of her breasts, he found himself in the middle of what he would probably consider as a spiritual experience.

As a warlock, Ben had grown up under the teachings of many goddesses. Worshiping them had been part of his family practice through generations, and right now Rey was among them, a pure incarnation of light, joy, and desire.

As he removed her pants and underwear in a swift, instinctual motion, she was the gorgeous, freckled Aphrodite, pliant and welcoming beneath him, pink lips sweetly parted in anticipation.

As his mouth started exploring her chest with warm, open-mouthed kisses, she was the fierce, lustful Freya, her hands entangling in his hair, rewarding him with soft moans as she arched her back. 

When his lips moved lower, the tip of his tongue caressing its way down her navel, she was the playful, joyful Bastet, purring her pleasure as his lips found her sweet core.

Ben was halfway through what was probably the most intense cunnilingus in his life when he came back to his senses, his sudden spiritual fervor melting in far more instinctual, material lust. 

He actually didn’t know if oral sex was exactly common practice in first encounters, it had such an intimate feeling to it, but at this point, he didn’t care. Rey was a moaning mess beneath him, and even if she was still a beautiful goddess he would have liked to worship until his tongue fell off, she was working with a whole different pantheon at the moment, as he lapped her folds as a man possessed.

__ “Oh, God!”   
  
“Jesus Christ!”   
  
“Holy Fuck!”   


  
Ben was lapping, and nibbling, and kissing, but somehow it wasn't enough. He barely registered his huge hands cradling her lovely backside, the swift movement of his arms throwing her toned legs behind his shoulders.   
  
In a moment he was lifting her from the bed right against his own face, his attack on her womanhood growing more and more determined by the moment. 

When she finally arched to her physical limit, Ben distinctively felt her legs shaking helplessly around his head, her soft, sweet voice making the most delightful noises possible. 

As she melted into a breathy puddle under him, Ben left a brief, affectionate peck on her hip bone before crawling back on top of her. There he found a wide, incredulous smile and hooded hazel eyes waiting for him.

“Hi,” he found himself saying, out of nowhere, totally aware of his quite eloquent grin, his mouth still wet.

“I didn’t see that coming either,” she admitted in a breathy smile. 

“I hope it was okay,”   
  
“Oh, shut up,” Rey weakly smacked his shoulder in a very unconvincing reprimand, “You certainly know it was.”

Ben found himself chuckling, his head falling on her shoulder as her arms circled his neck.

“Ben?” she hummed softly against his ear.

“Mhm?”

“Can you flip me again?” she murmured, “I’d really like to ride you, now.”   
  
His hands were already grabbing her hips when he stopped in his tracks.

“Ahem,” the man hesitated, biting his lower lip, “I don’t have condoms.”

Rey’s eyebrows raised in amusement, searching for his eyes.

“Well, I do,” she remarked without even flinching, “I bought them in the ladies room at the bar the moment I decided I wanted to jump your bones.”

Ben was laughing again, despite himself.

“So this was planned?” 

“Absolutely.”   
  
“I really appreciate your planning skills, then.”   
  
“I bet you do.”

In a second he was grabbing her thighs, flipping them over as she requested, stealing from her soft mouth another pleased squeal. Now Rey was straddling him, leaving a quite heated line of pecks on his shoulder before moving to grab her discarded pants beside them.

As she grabbed the condom package from the back pocket, Ben furrowed his brow.

“Jumbo?” he asked, reading the quite eloquent designation on the box.

“You’re a big man, it’s better to be safe than sorry,” she explained, not an inch of shame on her face, “Besides, a girl can dream, right?”

Ben was sure he had never laughed that much during sex. His hand covered his face as he laughed, in a vague attempt to cover the rising blush on his cheeks.

“You are unbelievable,” he chuckled.

“I take it as a compliment,” Rey replied, taking one of the metal foils and dropping the rest of the package beside her.    
  
“It was.” 

The woman lowered herself on him, stealing another heated kiss from his mouth as her hands started working to unbutton his pants. 

Ben almost moaned as his erection finally got free, raging and wanting beneath her. As Rey raised again to take a good look at him, a satisfied smile appeared on her face.

“See? I knew it,” she said triumphantly, ending her affirmation with her fist in the air and a quite hilarious  _ Yess! _

Ben burst into another heartfelt, brief laugh.

“I’m starting to feel like a sexual object here,” he joked.

Rey must have taken his words a bit too seriously, because her hands were cradling his face now, asking for his eyes to meet hers.

“You’re far too adorable to be just a sexual object,” she murmured, and her eyes were so sweet and loving, Ben’s found himself sighing contently.

“So are you,” the man murmured affectionately, and it was so true it hurt. Even if they were strangers, he couldn’t help but feel so at ease, and so connected to her. This wasn’t normal, but he couldn’t find the will to care right now. He raised on his elbows, dragging her mouth in another slow, tender kiss. 

They were still kissing when she grabbed his manhood gently, stealing a moan from his mouth as she put the condom on him and aligned his length with her warm, wet entrance. She lowered herself on him slowly, welcoming him with a low, deep moan.

Ben’s breath almost stopped as he felt the solid, silky grip of her warmth around him. It would probably have been a good idea to start thinking about the least arousing things in the universe to delay the inevitable, it had been so long after all, but the only thing he could think about at the moment was the gorgeous, adorable woman covered in freckles gently bouncing on top of him, her brow furrowed in concentration as she searched for her pleasure on his shaft. 

At some point, not being able to kiss her became almost unbearable, and he raised up, his torso meeting hers as his long arms caged her in maybe a little too forcefully. 

Even if he had remained almost completely still until that moment, Ben finally gave in to his instinct, bucking his hips against hers in a determined but not too strong thrust. His attempt was rewarded by an amazed, delighted squeal.

“Oh, God,” she whimpered against his neck, “That was brilliant, do it again.”   
  
The man obliged gladly, his hips starting to push into her in what soon became a fast, merciless rhythm that turned the slender frame of the woman in his arms into a moaning, sweaty mess. 

As he found himself peppering her face with kisses, Ben realized that he wouldn’t last long. Not making her come wasn’t even an option. The moment was too perfect to not get a happy ending for both of them. 

His hand sneaked between their bodies as they kept moving in unison, and when he finally found her clit her mouth became a perfectly round O of surprised pleasure.

“You’re a genius,” she purred, sounding honestly grateful, “God, Yes!”   
  


Ben didn’t feel like a genius at the moment, at all. A genius was supposed to have a calm, rational mind, but at the moment his mind was everything but rational, a frantic tangle of desire, instinct, and pleasure, desperate for release. 

When Rey finally came mere seconds later, her hips moving almost hysterically against him while her mouth released an almost desperate succession of delighted moans, he could feel her silky heat clenching around him, dragging him over the edge with her.

He hit his peak with a low, deep growl down in his chest. It was weirdly animalistic of him but he was in no condition to care as he came down seconds later, dragging her slender form down on the bed with him.

Her head landed on his shoulder as they both took deep breaths with wide, exhausted smiles on their faces.

“One hell of a plan,” Rey hummed contently against his neck.

“You’re the best pancake I ever had,” Ben murmured back in a wide grin, his arms cradling her closer as she giggled.

  
  


***   
  
The morning after, Ben woke up to the sweet sound of someone whistling softly. As he slowly opened his eyes he found himself in a room that wasn’t his own, and it took him just a second to remember, which was probably helped by the delightful vision in front of him. 

Rey, in her underwear, pouring some coffee from the coffee machine on the near table, while whistling Africa by Toto. God, he loved that song, and apparently, she appreciated it too. God, was she even real?

“Good morning,” she beamed at him, turning around, “Sorry if I’m waking you up so early, but I have to be at work pretty soon today.”

As he took the cup of coffee she was handed to him he just nodded, smiling back.

It took him two long swigs to finally be able to talk.

“Rey I-” he hesitated slightly, clearing his throat, “I was wondering if I could get your number.”

She gave him an amused smile.

“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t know if I like you enough,” she offered, pretending indifference and gaining an incredulous stare in return. She burst into laughter less than a second later. 

“You’re a monster,” he joked, attempting his most tragic voice. 

“Yes I am,” Rey agreed solemnly, before moving forward to kiss him. For a moment Ben worried about his morning breath, but she didn’t seem to care as she hummed contentedly against his mouth, her free hand caressing his cheek.

As he kissed her back, he kept asking himself how any of this was possible. This was far too good, and even if he knew a Skywalker couldn’t have something this good in his life, he had no intention of giving it up. 

As their lips parted he left another small peck on her lips, and another on her forehead before outstretching his hand toward the nightstand to grab his phone, putting it in her hands without a word.

She said nothing as she typed her number, only giving him a wide smile.

As Ben took the phone back to save the number, he noticed the message icon on the far right corner of the screen.

There were at least twelve messages from Kaydel. Most of them expressing her worry about him not coming back home. The last one though alerted him definitely more.

_ “Luke and Leia are back with the kids, they’re asking about you. Since I know you’re not dead cause I’m a witch and your twin and I totally would know if you were, I’ve covered your ass and said you were out getting donuts for breakfast. Get your ass here ASAP and bring me a Maple Bacon, I earned it.” _ _   
_ __   
Ben took a deep breath, taking the sudden slap of reality to his face with as much dignity as possible.

“Is everything alright?” Rey asked.

He nodded.

“Yup, I just have to go, I’m afraid.”   
  
  
***   
  
Parting with Rey had been quite difficult, but at least he had managed to exchange numbers and had gained the promise of a call pretty soon.

As he came back home, a huge box of donuts in his hands, he was welcomed by the excited squealing of his kids running to him.

“Dad, the solstice was beautiful, we danced in the moonlight, played with deer and the coven allowed us to pick an amethyst from the altar after the ritual!” Hanna jumped in excitement.

“Aunt Kaydel said she can teach me to evoke a thunderstorm when I’m older!” Bail added, grabbing Ben’s hand and dragging him to the kitchen.

Ben sighed in frustration as he entered the room, noticing right away that everything seemed disturbingly normal. 

Leia was reading her newspaper in front of a steaming cup of black tea while Luke poured coffee for himself and a very sleepy Kaydel, who had evidently decided to raid Ben ’s drawer and steal one of his old pair of pajamas that looked simply ridiculous on her.

“So, how was the weekend?” Luke asked casually, gaining a weirdly coordinated and urgent answer from both Kaydel and Ben.   
  
“Fine!” 

The older man furrowed his brow. Their response was obviously suspicious, but he only replied with an inconspicuous, “Mhm.”

  
  


Ben was now desperately searching for something to say when the doorbell rang.

“Can we go?” Hanna asked Leia with a wide pleading smile.

“Sure, it’s probably just Mr. Satton, the mailman.”   
  
The two kids nodded and ran toward the door. Ben could hear a quite surprised female voice greeting the kids.

“Oh, hello, I’m detective Niima. Does Kaydel Skywalker-Solo live here?”

Ben furrowed his brow. Why did that voice sound so weirdly familiar?

“Aunt? Dad?” The kids called from the hallway, and as both Ben and Kaydel walked toward the door, Ben stopped in his tracks, his eyes growing wide as they landed on the figure at the door.

Rey was wearing a pair of glasses, a very professional two-piece suit and a pair of oxford shoes. Her hand was still in the air, showing the kids the silver star of her detective badge. 

She looked back at him and her mouth went slack for a second before she managed to regain her composure, clearing her throat. 

“Kids, is this your dad?” she asked in the calmest voice she could manage.

The two kids nodded in unison and Ben was still there, still as stone, mouth slack and evident disbelief on his face.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Kaydel murmured beside him.

“And I guess you are Kaydel Skywalker-Solo, miss,” Rey continued, regaining most of her composure, “Can I come in?”

“Yes,” Ben muttered almost absently, gaining another perplexed look from his sister.

“Thank you,” Detective Niima replied blankly, “I’m currently working on a case involving your boyfriend, Miss Skywalker-Solo. A man by the name of Armitage Hux. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”

Ben could sense Kaydel’s panic despite the sudden polite smile that had appeared on her face, and he couldn’t help but feel it too. This was absurd, this was totally absurd. The woman of his dreams was a cop, and she was investigating the man they had killed and buried in their garden only ten feet away. Life was ridiculously unfair.

“Of course,” Kaydel replied kindly, “Can we offer you some coffee, detective? Maybe a donut?”

“Oh, yes please,” Rey nodded politely, and Ben swore her eyes were on him from behind the sunglasses, “I’m starving.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. what the hell is going on here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I need to thank the amazing Fettuccine-Alfreylo for being my beta. She's super talented, supportive, sweet and kind <3 this project would have been a mess without you <3

Detective Niima kept a straight face as she took off her glasses, even if every fiber of her being was screaming the most outraged  _ What The Fuck!  _ that ever existed as she followed the two couples of Solo twins toward the kitchen.

As Ben walked in front of her, stiff as a board, she stole a couple of glances of his imposing figure.

Of all the men in the world, why the hell she had slept with the only one probably involved in her current investigation? This was a mess, a huge one, and even if she hadn’t known his last name at the time of the encounter, this could lead to major consequences in her career if this particular information leaked.

She was mad, furious even, with herself and him. Yet for some reason her eyes kept falling on the gentle waves of his raven long hair, on the broadness of his shoulders, awakening again the same wish for licking him all over that she had the night before. Damn, what the hell was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she stop thinking about his laugh, his hands, his ridiculous opinion about literature with a fondness that was absolutely unreasonable for a one night stand? 

Yeah, because, let’s be honest, Rey forced herself to think, letting the necessary amount of pessimism sink in, even if it hadn’t felt like a one night stand, even if it has been probably the most emotional sex in her life, this didn’t mean that it was something different than that. 

And on top of that, Ben was also a father, apparently, living in a big, beautiful ancient house with a large family. A part of her brain kept telling her that at any moment the mother of the children, Ben’s wife, would come in with a bright, unaware smile on her face, a cute apron and the body of a Victoria’s Secret model to offer her donuts.

The thought both infuriated her and depressed her beyond measure, but Rey had no time for that, she was working.

“Mom, Uncle Luke?” Kaydel called as they all entered the vast, luminous kitchen, “This is Detective Niima, she’s here to ask me some questions, but she agreed to get some breakfast first. Detective Niima, this is our mother Leia and her brother, Luke. And I almost forgot this is my brother Ben and his children Bail and Hanna.”

Rey swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing herself to act as normal as possible. She greeted them all with a polite smile, carefully avoiding Ben’s stare. 

The whole room looked like a damn herbal store, branches and flowers hanging on the ceiling to dry, copper pots of bizarre forms, and spiced smells filled the air. 

At the main table, the oldest couple of Skywalker twins were sitting comfortably at their chairs, offering back to Rey polite smiles and hot steaming coffee.

“So,” Luke started gently, pouring her a giant mug of the hot beverage, “What has our Kay done this time?”   
  
“I beg your pardon?” Rey asked, furrowing her brow.

“Luke!” Kaydel exclaimed, outraged.

“If you’re looking for the mysterious activist who kept organizing unauthorized demonstrations in front of that lab that tests on animals near the port ten years ago, you found her,” Luke declared playfully, “Take her away.”

“Hey! You actually helped me in that!” his niece protested.

Rey was about to speak, quite perplexed when she heard Leia’s voice.

“Honey, are you alright?” She was talking to Ben. He hadn’t sat down at the table yet, and even if Rey was making a point of not looking at him, somehow she could feel his eyes on her. 

“Don’t you want a donut, dad?” Bail asked, sitting beside Leia, feasting messily on his donut.

“I’m not hungry, I’ll just have some coffee,” Ben muttered, his voice sounding infuriatingly awkward to Rey. Of course he was uncomfortable, yet, no wife had shown up. 

When they all finally finished their breakfast and the kids went to play in the garden followed by Luke and Leia, Rey finally cleared her throat, inviting with a quite eloquent gesture both Kaydel and Ben to sit.

“I was wondering if you can give me some information, Miss,” She started, her face expressionless as protocol required, “We need to locate your boyfriend, Mr. Hux, as soon as possible.”   
  
“May I was why?” Kaydel asked, hiding her nervousness at her best.

Rey picked up her phone, displaying a picture of a young girl in her mid-twenties, gentle smile, dark hair, and big, dreamy eyes.   
  
“This was Korr Sella. Twenty-six years old. We found her body last year in the middle of the desert, in Arizona. Her face had been scarred, branded with what we think was the incandescent top of a ring,” Detective Niima explained, her voice low and serious.

Ben and Kaydel exchanged an alarmed glare, their eyes moving swiftly from the picture to each other.

“The last person who saw her was her boyfriend at the time, Mr. Hux, and I really need to talk to him,” Rey explained, “So if you can give me any information about his location it would be very helpful.”

“I haven’t seen him in the last two days,” Kaydel replied, almost hurriedly, her rush causing Rey’s eyebrows to rise suspiciously. The detective’s glare focused on the woman’s face, just now noticing the fading bruise under her eye.

“Is that a gift from your boyfriend?” She asked dryly.

Kaydel stiffened, but gratefully the proverbial sass of the Skywalker women came in.

“Yup,” she replied almost casually, “But let’s just say that I didn’t stick around to get another one. A man can lay his hands on me just once. After that, I left. It was two days ago, I haven’t heard from Armitage since, and I have no intention to.”

“Understandable,” Rey nodded, imposing herself to be as cold as possible for the next question. Probably her vague irritation toward Ben would help. She turned her head to the other Skywalker, addressing him formally, “Did you know of Hux’s attitude toward your sister, Mr. Skywalker-Solo?”

“Not until the bruise, no-” he mumbled.

“Have you ever met Armitage Hux in person?”   
  
“No, fortunately not.”   
  
“Then why has your car been found in the parking lot of the motel where your sister and Mr. Hux were staying at?”

Ben swallowed thickly, clearly taken aback. He was about to babble some response when the second question came in.

“And why is Mr. Hux’s car currently parked in your driveway?”

“Ben came to pick me up when Hux was away. Ben’s car wasn’t working properly so we took the other car and went away,” his sister answered for him, a little bit too urgently.

Detective Niima’s eyebrows raised.

“So you actually stole Mr. Hux’s car,”

“A little,” Ben babbled helplessly, gaining a panicked look from Kaydel, “e know it’s wrong but… He could have hurt my sister again, and he wanted to kidnap her”

“Kidnap?” Rey asked, alarmed.

“Well, I don’t know!” Ben continued, evidently uncomfortable, “I just wanted to take her away from him. I never wanted to take his car but it was, well, necessary. Speaking of which, can you please give it back to him or something?”

Rey sighed, her eyes falling on the folder in front of her, the smiling face of Hux’s previous victim looking back at her from a picture.

“I would recommend both of you find a lawyer as soon as possible, just in case,” she explained, rising to her feet, “I’ll keep in contact in case of further questions. I’ll see myself out.”

“I’ll accompany you,” Ben muttered almost urgently, gaining a perplexed glare from his sister.

As they walked toward the hallway, Rey carefully avoided looking at him, the folder clutched to her chest.

Ben cleared his throat, hesitantly.

“I know you said we would see each other soon,” he lamely attempted to joke, clearly nervous, “But I didn’t think it would be this soon,”   
  
Rey turned, her eyes shooting daggers at him.

“This is serious,” she hissed, “This is not a joke, it’s a police investigation. A girl has died, do you realize that, Ben?”   
  
“Of course,” he murmured defensively, “I-”

“This was a mistake,” Rey lowered her gaze, defeated, her jaw clenched.

“You mean,” Ben hesitated.

“Whatever happened between us?” she asked, “Yes. We both didn’t know yesterday, but that doesn’t make it more appropriate. I’m in the middle of an investigation that involves your family and you have your kids to take care of,” the last part came out more bitter than she intended.

She almost felt the moment in which Ben’s heart broke. It echoed like a proper sound into her chest, matching her own.

“You’re mad at me?” he asked, lowering his head, “For not telling you about the kids?”   
  
Her mouth clenched into a thin line.

“It’s not my place to be mad at you. I’m on duty, personal feelings had nothing to do with this.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” he continued, looking for her gaze.

“Personal questions are irrelevant now,” Rey squared her shoulders, determined to avoid his eyes, “I’m serious, whatever this is, it ends now, it has to.”

“Rey I-” he wet his lips, his mouth must have felt dry as hell, “I-I’m sorry,” he could only find the strength to mutter.

“Me too,” she replied, hitting the door.

***   
  
“What the hell was that?!” Ben found a plethora of skeptic stares on him him as he walked back to the kitchen. Luckily the question wasn’t aimed only at him, but also to his sister Kaydel.

“Why was there a police officer in our kitchen this morning?” Leia spoke firmly, her inquisitive glare going from one of her children to the other.

“Everything's alright, mom,” Kaydel assured, defensively, “We had some problems but we took care of it.” 

“I see,” Luke said, unimpressed, his arms crossing on his chest, “After all, this family hasn’t had trouble with the law since your mother threw a bra in the face of a governor back in the seventies. I suppose not having further trouble with the police would have been too much to ask.”   
  
Leia shot her brother a deadly glare.

“That’s beside the point,” she remarked stiffly, turning her head again to her children, “Is there something you’d like to share, guys?” she asked.

Ben just shook his head, followed by a whispered “nope” from his sister.

“Very well.” Their mother looked quite disappointed. “You don’t want to tell us? Fine. Deal with your shit, both of you, but don’t you dare drag us or the kids into this.”   
  
***   
  


Kaydel had decided to hide in the old library, finding the same peaceful spot her brother and her used to share when they were kids, right under the huge wooden table. Thinking about herself and Ben being kids in that old house, playing and laughing without a care in the world, was supposed to make things easier, but it wasn’t helping that much. 

“Aunt Kay?” Hanna’s voice called from the door, “What are you doing down there?” 

Kaydel cleared her throat, crawling out from under the table.

“Hey, little one,” she said a little bit too enthusiastically, putting a huge smile on her face, “What’s up?”   
  
Hanna gave her a curious look, holding what looked like an old journal in her small hands.

“I found something in the attic,” the little girl explained, handing her the notebook, “Do you know what this is?”   
  
Kaydel’s smile turned into a real one as soon as her eyes laid on the old paper. She remembered that old journal perfectly. It was her and Ben’s first proper grimoire from when they were kids. 

Ben had been extremely talented, even back then, inventing his own spells, trying out weird mixtures and potions.

Her eyes landed especially on the page Hanna was pointing at with her tiny hand.    
  
  


_ “She will hear my call from miles away, _

_ She will whistle my favorite song, _

_ She has known pain, yet there’s no trace of it when she smiles, _

_ She can fix a car while blindfolded, _

_ She can flip pancakes in the air, _

_ and her favorite shape will be a star. _

_ Her eyes are both green and brown.” _

She remembered the Amas Veritas Ben has cast very well. His brother had always been too smart for his own good, but in the end, magic had outsmarted him.

“Does it talk about mom?” Hanna asked.

Kaydel hesitated “Well, yes…”   
  
“But mom’s eyes were dark brown,” the little girl suggested, perplexed.

Her aunt took a deep breath, giving her a gentle look.

“Listen, this was a spell your father did when he was really young, only a few years older than you are now,” she explained, “He made a spell to protect himself from love, so he pictured this girl that doesn’t exist to make sure he would never find her. But the spell didn’t work that much, he met your mom and he loved her so much.”    
  
Kaydel bit her lip, trying to hide the vague sadness in her tone. Even if she had known Sabine very little, and she knew that Ben’s courage to actually approach her had been mostly due to Leia and Luke’s magic, she remembered how happy her brother had been, so long ago. 

Despite her desperate search for love, most of her relationships hadn’t been half as meaningful as Ben’s only one. 

And now they were both alone, both together again in that old house, like Luke and Leia and many other Skywalkers before them. 

***   
  


Ben decided to try and calm his nerves by preparing lunch for the family before going to work.

His hands were still shaking after he spoke with Rey, but he wasn’t in the position of letting anyone know. 

Not that he was ashamed of what had happened between him and Rey, how could he after all? But the information wouldn’t have helped anyone, especially himself. 

How something so beautiful could have turned into something so painful and dangerous so soon was still a mystery to him. Maybe the Skywalker curse had found another way to torment him, maybe destiny wanted to remind him that being with someone was out of his league, forever.

He took a deep breath, looking for something on the kitchen counter he couldn’t find.

“Bail?” he called for his son, noticing him standing at the window, still as stone, his back to him, “I forgot the mint. Do you mind taking some of it from the garden, please?”

“No,” the young boy muttered, his eyes still looking out of the window, “As long as the man with the red hair remains in the garden, I’m not going.”

Ben’s heart sunk in his chest, panic taking him by surprise. With urgent long strides, he walked toward the window, his massive hand finding its place on Bail’s tiny shoulder, protectively.    
  
As he looked outside, he saw no one there.


End file.
